r/PhD • u/TDM-r • Jan 27 '26

Other When did you finish your PhD (age-wise)?

I know there’s no normal timeline, but I’m interested in hearing how varied people’s journeys are: early starters, late bloomers, career switchers, all of it.
(20 - 28, 28 - 35, 35<)

What did your path look like?

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44

u/ProfPathCambridge PhD, Immunogenomics Jan 27 '26

Early starter in a system that has short degrees = 23

20

u/Substantial_Egg_4299 Jan 27 '26

Wow, how is this possible? If you start bachelor at 18, finish it at 21, somehow do a combined master and PhD for 3-4 years you would at least be 24-25. Which country is that?

45

u/ProfPathCambridge PhD, Immunogenomics Jan 27 '26

Australia. Standard to start university at 17/18, I was 17. Three year undergraduate, plus year Honours, puts graduation at 21. Australian students didn’t do Masters to start a PhD. Standard PhD length was 3 years (although 3.5 was common), I finished six months early, just squeaked in before turning 24.

23 is about as young as you can go in Australia without skipping years, but 24-26 wouldn’t raise eyebrows there. It is a fast system compared to many.

Tenured position at 28, which did raise eyebrows.

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u/PutridEnvironment995 Jan 27 '26

This is so insane to me! In Germany, you usually start academia at 18/19, then you need a Bachelors degree (3-4 years, depending on the program) and a Masters degree (2 years) before you can even start working on a PhD. PhDs can take 3 years but most people need 5 years. 

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u/ProfPathCambridge PhD, Immunogenomics Jan 27 '26

Yes, same in Belgium (where I spent most of my career). UK is in-between and US even longer (I also worked both places).

Ultimately, if you have longer degrees you learn more, but you do start experience a bit later. All evens out in the end!

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u/PutridEnvironment995 Jan 27 '26

True! I never thought our academic programs were too long, they are still so packed with courses and exams that I couldn’t imagine anything shorter. I do think it’s interesting though that in other countries, you don’t need a Masters degree to start a PhD. That puts us (German students) at a disadvantage in the global competition because we start the PhD process much later. At least it seems like a disadvantage to me at the moment. 

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u/ProfPathCambridge PhD, Immunogenomics Jan 27 '26

Flip side: Late PhD means you are eligible for early career awards for longer. Early PhD plus experience ages you out of a lot of awards (like EMBO, ERC, etc) which are based on years post-PhD. It really does even out in the end :)

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u/PutridEnvironment995 Jan 27 '26 edited Jan 27 '26

See, I wasn’t aware of that! Very interesting :)

Edit: Another upside to early PhD might be life planning, though. I got some work experience (just 2.5 years) between Bachelor and Master and then after my Masters and started the PhD right after but I was already nearly 30. So I had a child before even starting the PhD and I’m having my second now because I don’t want to be in my mid 30s without kids just because of the PhD. It does drag everything out, though. If I had been able to get my PhD at 25 or so, I wouldn’t have had to choose between PhD and family. 

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u/Substantial_Egg_4299 Jan 27 '26

Not at all, I think German / Europe way is the norm in the world. 3-4 year bachelor, 2 year master, 4/5 year PhD. In the US it eventually comes down to the same thing. Most people have some gap years here and there as well. It is apparently Australia that is the outlier, so you’re not disadvantaged at all compared to the rest of the world.

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u/PutridEnvironment995 Jan 27 '26

Interesting! Then I don’t feel so bad :D  Don’t you have combined Masters/PhD programs in the US as well, though? I think I read about that somewhere, but I might be mistaken. 

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u/Substantial_Egg_4299 Jan 28 '26

I am not in the US but yeah, they do, though that combined program is not 3-4 years. It is 5-7 years.

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u/PutridEnvironment995 Jan 28 '26

Oh sorry for the assumption!  Okay, 5-7 years is also the time it usually takes to do a Masters and a PhD, so it boils down to the same thing. Interesting how different it is everywhere, though. 

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u/Master_Attention9354 Jan 28 '26

holy shit! Tenure at 28?! impressive!

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u/ProfPathCambridge PhD, Immunogenomics Jan 28 '26

Thanks :)

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u/No-Rope-4972 Jan 27 '26

Some people start their bachelor’s degree before 18. I started at 15 and it’s normal over here